Girls' Soccer: Rams taste sweet semi victory over Ludlowe

Written by Dave Stewart
Monday, 02 November 2009 22:58

Kirk Bamford knew he had a pretty good collection of soccer players when he got his first look at the New Canaan girls in action during the preseason. But reaching the championship game of the FCIAC tournament? That was a difficult wager to make.

“If I knew that, I’d be on a desert island somewhere with a lottery in my back pocket,” Bamford said with a smile.

Bamford may not have won the lottery but he and his Rams sure hit the jackpot with a dominating 4-0 victory over Fairfield-Ludlowe Falcons in the FCIAC semifinals Monday night at Wilton’s Kristine Lily Field.

The performance was as complete as any New Canaan has had this season, as the Rams were stellar in every facet of the game. Three players found the net as senior Liz Bruno had two goals, and junior Caroline Murray and senior co-captain Kacey Pippitt each scored once.

The New Canaan defensive corps allowed just four shots on goals, all saved by sophomore keeper Holly Burwick. The Rams generated numerous offensive chances with Murray, Bruno, midfielders Clare Ashforth and Jana Persky, and sweeper Freddie Kemp leading the way.

“You play certain games and a number of players might not be on their game,” Bamford said. “Tonight, everybody out there was consistently on their game from start to finish. There’s no dip or no lull. Everybody played their shift, coming off the bench as well, and did a phenomenal game. It was a great team performance tonight.”

The victory put the second-seeded Rams (14-1-2) in the FCIAC championship game, where they’ll will face No. 1 Ridgefield (15-1-1) at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Norwalk High School. The Tigers defeated Greenwich, 2-1, in Monday’s other semifinal game.

Beating Ludlowe was the Rams’ second straight victory against a team they had tied during the regular season. They tied Fairfield-Warde, 0-0, during the season, and then knocked off the Mustangs, 1-0, in the first round of the playoffs Saturday at Dunning Field.

New Canaan had the better of play against Ludlowe earlier this year, but failed to widen a 1-0 lead and eventually settled for a 1-1 tie.

With that in mind, the Rams were expecting anything but a rout in the semifinals.

“When it comes to playoff time, everyone comes out to win and there’s never a game that’s a blowout,” Kemp, a senior co-captain, said. “But I think we were over-compensating for what we lacked last time against them, and for what we expected out of them — we were expecting a little more. We expected the toughest game of the season and we didn’t let up.”

“It was definitely better than we’ve been playing in the past,” senior co-captain Ashforth said. “It felt like we got our game back. We played well, we stepped to the ball and they didn’t have a whole lot of opportunities.

“It was a little slow (Saturday against Warde) and I think that made us realize that we can’t just come out and expect to win. We’ve had a great season but it only gets harder from here. We stepped it up tonight. It’s FCIACs and you could be the lowest seed and still give us a game.”

Ludlowe made a bit of a push early on, but New Canaan quickly took command. Murray started and finished the first scoring sequence when she brought the ball through the midfield and played it up the center to junior Abby Lee.

Lee brought the ball to the right corner and crossed it back to the middle, where Murray drilled a goal into the left side of the net in the 11th minute.

Bruno set up Murray for another strong chance shortly after the first goal, but Falcon keeper Blakely Zecher made the grab.

New Canaan was not to be denied in the 21st minute, when Murray again brought the ball into Ludlowe’s side of the field. She passed it up to Ashforth on the left side, and Ashforth tapped it ahead to Bruno, who converted a quick, left-footed shot for a 2-0 lead.

The Rams continued to pressure the net as a kick by Kemp was chipped over the wall and into the box, where Ashforth and Christy Barre battled for the ball. Zecher eventually made the stop and then made a diving save on a low liner by Persky to start the second half.

In the 46th minute, Kemp booted a high kick into the box and Pippitt went up for the header into the back of the net for a 3-0 advantage.

At the other end of the field, the defense was perfect when challenged. Burwick, Kemp, Pippitt, senior Kelsey Durkin and freshman Kelly Armstrong led the way, with Durkin starting for sophomore Sarah Mannelly, who is sidelined with a concussion.

“It’s been awesome to see Kelsey step up because she’s a senior and she’s been out with an injury this season,” Kemp said. “I think it’s cool that we have two left-footed backs and it shows how much depth we have. We can throw anyone in there for whatever reason and they’ll execute.”

The Rams put the icing on the cake with 1:08 remaining, when Bruno scored on a breakaway for the fourth and final goal.

New Canaan’s depth came through in a big way, as three players scored and six had points. Lee, Ashforth and Kemp all had assists

“It’s nice that we don’t have to count on one person to get the ball to and have them score,” Ashforth said. “You can have confidence in a lot of different people, other people get assists and we can work off each other. That’s what makes our team. We don’t have to just rely on one best player because everyone out there is our best player.”

Not only was Monday’s showing one of the best this season for New Canaan, it came on a big stage, with the spotlight of the postseason shining brightly.

“You’re going to lean to say it’s one of the best because it’s got us in the final where we want to be,” Bamford said. “You always remember those results. There’s a special element to it. I think the girls performed very well as a team tonight from back-to-front and side-to-side. We out together the performance we’ve given on numerous occasions this year and was needed tonight. It was nice to do that in such a big game.”

The FCIAC title tilt against Ridgefield affords the Rams yet another chance at revenge. Their first two tournament wins against Warde and Ludlowe avenged their two ties, while Ridgefield handed New Canaan’s it’s only loss, 3-1, last Thursday at Tiger Hollow.

“We got Warde, who we tied in the regular season,” senior co-captain Clare Ashforth said. “We got Ludlowe, who we tied, and if we see Ridgefield again, we’re going to take it to them just as hard to get our perfect season back. We’ll fix up our little marks there.”

For the time being, the Rams are enjoying their journey thus far, with a few more victories possibly on the horizon.

“I have a great belief in what the players can do and the potential we have,” Bamford said. “We set realistic goals for the team and we’ve gone about working hard to put ourselves in the arena to achieve them. This is fantastic. It’s all coming together, but it can all go the other way with the spin of the ball or a tip of the foot. So it’s so far, so good, and may it continue for a number of more games.”